Chi frequenta su Bandcamp il prezioso archivio Sinclair Songs di Richard Sinclair - dedicato naturalmente ai trascorsi storici in Caravan, Hatfield and the North e Camel ma soprattutto alle numerose vicende da solista e titolare degli anni successivi - sa che i materiali lì disponibili, anche se già pubblicati, sono spesso soggetti a modifiche, aggiunte, rettifiche e revisioni con l'emergere via via di nuove informazioni o di nuove esigenze. Tra le cose più interessanti presenti al momento, frutto di ritrovamenti recenti e quasi casuali, ci sono l'unica apparizione ufficiale della Coxhill-Sinclair Band (Reims, novembre 1975), gli Hatfields con Robert Wyatt (ma senza Dave Stewart) per la tv francese ORTF (Parigi, gennaio 1973), i nastri preparativi per If I Could Do It All Over Again (Caravan, 1969) e una versione provvisoria di Seven Year Itch (Pip Pyle, 1994).

https://richardsinclairsongs.bandcamp.com

 

Scegliere tra gli oltre cento brani in repertorio i propri dieci preferiti non è stato semplice, però ci hanno provato: Barbara Gaskin per sé ha indicato - in ordine cronologico - The Hamburger Song, I'm in a Different World, There Is No Reward, Grey Skies, Your Lucky Star, The Sweetwater Sea, Fear is the Thief, René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War, When the Warcry Comes e Time's Arrow, mentre Dave Stewart ha optato per New Jerusalem, Busy Doing Nothing, Walnut Tree Walk, Henry & James, As Far As Dreams Can Go, The Cloths Of Heaven, Heavy Heart e Deep Underground, oltre a Grey Skies e Your Lucky Star preferiti anche da Barbara. Dettagli sulla scelta dei brani si possono leggere nella più recente newsletter del duo, confidando di riascoltarne presto dal vivo almeno alcuni.

https://davebarb.com

 

Fu dopo aver visto in azione Elliot Ingber - Winged Eel Fingerling nella Magic Band di Captain Beefheart - che il giovane Henry Kaiser decise di diventare chitarrista. Ricorda perfettamente il luogo il giorno l'ora e il motivo di quella folgorazione, un lungo solo 'very psychedelic' in Alice in Blunderland, che oggi cita nel rendere omaggio al suo amato ispiratore, a pochi giorni dalla scomparsa: Elliot Ingber & The Guitar Solo That Changed My Life.

https://www.beefheart.com/elliot-ingber-aka-winged-eel-fingerling
https://joelharrison.substack.com/farewell-to-elliot-ingber
https://www.youtube.com/Mahalo-Nui

 

I Soon Learned To Know This Flower Better
(Jamie Muir, 1942-2025)

 

Un ritratto del compianto Howard Riley (1943-2025) a pochi giorni dalla scomparsa è offerto sulle pagine del Guardian da Richard Williams, UK Jazz News interpella Cath Longbottom a proposito del film (Cheerfully Beyond Category) prodotto appena in tempo per cogliere una memorabile performance del pianista in duo con Keith Tippett, The Wire recupera un'intervista di qualche anno fa condotta da Julian Cowley e The Free Jazz Collective ospita un ricordo di Martin Schray: "He always tried to bring both sides together: the useful ideas and intellectual aspects of the European musical environment and the intensity and spontaneity which is displayed by the American jazz tradition. Riley’s work ricocheted between drama, space, rumbling trills, rhythmic surprises and a sparing lyricism. Hardly anyone was able to develop a theme through constant modulations, harmony shifts and subtle dynamics like him, his idiosyncrasies always remaining accessible."

https://www.discogs.com/Howard-Riley

Capace di tradurre in gesto artistico qualsiasi sua bizzarria/saviezza senile rimane Sven-Åke Johansson, che qualche giorno fa per San Valentino ha consegnato agli amanti ('Ancora una volta, con sentimento') sette classici iperglicemici in 110 copie numerate: Sven-Åke Sings With Strings.

Everyone knows Swedish free jazz legend Sven-Åke Johansson kills it on the dancefloor, making Michael Jackson look petite in his three piece suit and killer moves! Nobody flips a cymbal with more style and patience than Sven-Åke! Whether it's a carboard cymbal, a rumbling tractor, Kippenberger's events, a brassband, a fire extinguisher or a lead pipe, anything turns into a stylish instrument in his hands. We've heard him croon before as well, though never as sugary as on this one sided beauty. 7 love songs straight from his classy heart to yours! Bounce along to cheesy jazz standards backed up by Gordon Monahan on organ and Axel Dörner on trumpet, slipped into a lasered love heart sleeve and a silkscreened B side to make your Valentine's Day extra spicy.

https://ultraeczema.bandcamp.com/sven-ke-sings-with-strings

 

Debuttare come titolare all'età di cento anni (e presto, a maggio, saranno centouno). Una nuova alba, Marshall Allen. Davvero!

https://marshallallen.bandcamp.com/new-dawn

 

Storia e vicende della gloriosa Free Music Production e ragguagli in merito alle sue iniziative future: dopo l'emozionato intervento offerto l'anno scorso al Cafe Oto a Londra nei giorni dell'omaggio a Peter Brötzmann torna a parlarne oggi - questa volta a Chicago, ospite della galleria d'arte Corbett vs. Dempsey - Markus Müller, curatore delle retrospettive a Monaco (Haus der Kunst, 2017) e Berlino (Akademie der Künste, 2018), autore dello splendido volume FMP: The Living Music (Wolke, 2022) tratto da esse e attuale responsabile del catalogo dell'etichetta assieme a Anna Maria Ostendorf.

Corbett vs. Dempsey is pleased to welcome Markus Müller, who will talk about his personal involvement with Free Music Production, which includes working on exhibitions at the Haus der Kunst, Munich, and the Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg, Berlin, in 2017 and 2018 respectively. These shows resulted in Müller's book Free Music Production: FMP: The Living Music. Müller will focus on the specific FMP/Chicago relationship, exemplified by Peter Brötzmann’s commitment to the city and John Corbett’s numerous activities beginning in the 1990s. Furthermore he will contextualize the remarkable recent focus on the label and various musicians FMP worked with, including the appearance of books on Hans Reichel, Cecil Taylor, and Peter Brötzmann that were published in the last two years. Müller inherited FMP from Jost Gebers in 2024 and will also sketch his future plans for the imminent reawakening of the label in the course of this year.

https://corbettvsdempsey.com/events/markus-muller

 

Esce oggi quale atto d'amore e di profonda riconoscenza l'omaggio che il Cafe Oto londinese aveva promesso al compianto Peter Brötzmann (1941-2023) e concordato direttamente con lui qualche giorno prima della sua scomparsa: sono i suoi due ultimi concerti in assoluto, quelli tenuti lì il 19 e 11 febbraio 2023 in quartetto con Jason Adasiewicz, John Edwards e Steve Noble, ora raccolti in un prezioso album (The Quartet) disponibile in varie edizioni - quella in doppio cd è la più completa - e in uno speciale box artistico a tiratura limitata.

"It is a huge honour to announce the publication of Peter Brötzmann’s final concerts on Otoroku. When we invited Peter to do a residency at Cafe Oto back in February 2023 we had no idea these would be his last ever shows and he played with such power it would have been hard for anyone present to believe he would never play publicly again. Recorded over two nights this grouping of Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums feels especially resonant and personal to Cafe Oto. The first time Peter performed at the venue back in 2010 it was in a trio with John and Steve (released as The Worse The Better kickstarting our in-house record label) so it feels fitting that the last shows he ever played here should also have that trio at its core. The quartet last played together at Oto back in 2013 (released as Mental Shake on Otoroku) and Brötzmann humbly opened the return of the group saying "It's a pleasure to be back” before launching straight into a long blast on the alto sax, swiftly met by the relentless energy and engagement of Adasiewicz, Edwards and Noble. Peter clearly wanted to play to the end. Did he know these might be his last shows? We will never know. What is clear is he wanted to go out in style and on his terms. For anyone in the room at the time or listening to these recordings it’s clear he achieved that."

https://peterbroetzmann.bandcamp.com/the-quartet

 

Un recente solo di Susana Santos Silva è disponibile presso Bandcamp per iniziativa della berlinese Skin and Speech: Live at Xciting Festival 2024, registrato a Stoccarda (Germania) lo scorso 13 settembre. Così ricorda lei stessa, con emozione: "From the start it was silence. Nakedness. Skin mirroring the silence from where the sound emerges. The sound that is all around us from even before the silence was heard. The sound that turns into speech. Speechless. Saked. Silent. The sound that bursts into energy within our bodies. Bodies vibrating in silence. Excited by the energy flowing in all directions. Going nowhere. Just being. Present. Witnessing life."

https://susanasantossilva.com

 

Sito web completamente rinnovato grazie all'intervento della figlia Lucia Liss, pubblicazione di molti materiali consigliati e inediti (tra questi un interessante duo telepatico con l'arpista Shelley Burgon, The Life and Behavior), una nuova intensa stagione di concerti al via - nell'immediato, soprattutto con Susana Santos Silva - e una presentazione di sé composita e resistente attraverso stralci di passate interviste e più recenti dichiarazioni: Fred Frith.

"I’m a songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist (bass, keyboards, violin) and an improviser performing mostly on various permutations of the electric and acoustic guitar. Occasionally I use crude home-made string instruments of my own invention. I learned how to compose in rock bands, starting with Henry Cow in 1968. This meant writing for and with people that I knew, and then arriving at the final result through a collective rehearsal process. During the Henry Cow years I fell in love with the recording studio and its endless possibilities. I embrace the idea of the “work” as an unfinished and constantly mutating entity. Collaboration, improvisation, sculpting sound in the studio, and treating composition as an open-ended process remain central to how I make music."

https://www.fredfrith.com

 

Realizzata l'anno scorso in due distinte occasioni da Gerardo Figueroa Rodríguez e Franco Falistoco, responsabili del progetto radiofonico latinoamericano El ruido es el mensaje, è ora disponbile integralmente sul web una lunga e interessantissima intervista a Chris Cutler suddivisa in due parti intitolate, non casualmente, File Under Popular e Not As We Choose. Nel montaggio audio finale, caratterizzato da vari effetti stereofonici, alterazioni d'ambiente sonoro e manipolazioni creative nella tradizione della 'Radio Art' cara ai curatori, fa capolino qualche estratto da un concerto cileno di Cutler con Frith del 1997, anch'esso tuttora disponibile su YT.

El ruido es el mensaje es un proyecto latinoamericano sin fines de lucro relacionado con la tecnología, donde contamos historias de artistas sonoros y experimentales, principalmente mujeres, con impacto en el storytelling. Con anclaje en la comunidad y que inspiran otros artistas a contar historias con sonido, de forma experimental.

Noise is the Message is a radio production, whose objective is to take up again the languages of the radio: voice, word, music, sound effects and silence. This exploration of the language of sound is carried out from an inter-disciplinary point of view, where the genres are crossed and mixed to form a collage that has the radio as its transmitter and the senses of each listener/viewer as its receiver. We consider ourselves enrolled in the current of contemporary journalism, Radio Art and sound experimentation through play. The concerns and curiosities offered by the sound field make us aim at offering a radio that explores and exploits other uses of its language. The experimentation, the confluence of ideas, the work and record in different areas, from the urban to the rural, contribute to create in us and in those who listen to us, wide communicative and interpretative competences of the realities, to be able to insert ourselves in our communities in a more complete, critical and reflexive way. By revaluing the importance of the soundscape and its many components, we seek to rescue the meaning and importance of community life and respect for collective signifiers. The result will be a more receptive and active “walker”, committed and integrated with his acoustic and social environment. Noise is the Message is nourished by sounds to tell stories, it is radio to listen attentively and critically, it is radio to listen with headphones.

https://www.elruidoeselmensaje.com

 

Ôm Perkuterr colpisce ancora, prendendo di mira stavolta The Hermit, una delle amatissime Canzoni d'inverno degli Art Bears. Aggiungendovi del suo.

https://www.youtube.com/@omperkuterr

 

Torna oggi eccezionalmente in scena a Lyme Regis nel Dorset (Regno Unito) la Band of Bands di Mike Westbrook, con lui presente di persona per la gioia di amici e sostenitori assieme a Kate, Chris Biscoe, Pete Whyman, Karen Street, Marcus Vergette, Coach York e con il prezioso rinforzo di Matthew Bourne. Il concerto si tiene nel pomeriggio al Marine Theatre, in atmosfera festosa, con vista mare.

Mike Westbrook is a British Jazz legend, not only playing with all the biggest names but also as a composer and arranger. In his eighties, this is a rare chance to see him in concert and this is a South West exclusive. This band recently won Jazzwise’s Record of the Year, described as 'a new band, comprised of master musicians' by Andy Robson (Jazzwise). In Band Of Bands there are re-creations of Westbrook classics alongside new songs, and arrangements of some lesser-known standards, all interpreted by some of UK’s most creative and distinctive soloists.

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk
https://www.marinetheatre.com/mike-westbrooks-band-of-bands

 

Con il pensiero rivolto alla drammatica situazione ambientale e geopolitica dell'epoca attuale, assieme alla consapevolezza della propria personale fragilità, Dave Sinclair pubblica un nuovo album solista che unisce brani recenti a riprese di altri precedenti, forte di presenze illustri - Robert Wyatt, Jimmy Hastings, Brian Hopper - e del determinante aiuto di Billie Bottle assieme ad altri amici del giro westbrookiano più giovanile (Martine Waltier, Roz Harding, Vivien Goodwin-Darke): Tears In His Eyes.

Scrive nelle note: "The first important track, The Piano Player, was initially recorded for my solo album in 1976, with lyrics and vocals from John Murphy, and subsequently recorded with Caravan in 1979. Then, I completely restructured it as a solo performance for a limited video release in 2021, but the audio from it has never been on general release until now. The other tracks, although some are familiar, haven’t been released before in their present form, and have different instrumentation, singers or solos. Working on this album has inspired me to continue with music, and I still have a large back catalogue of unreleased brand-new material. The mood of this album I feel is more in keeping with the general feeling in this world right now and reflects the potential vulnerability and uncertainty of the future that lies ahead for all of us. But ‘hope’ still remains eternal!"

https://davesinclair.bandcamp.com/tears-in-his-eyes

 

Una mezzoretta di preparativi a casa di Alan Gowen prima di procedere alla registrazione dell'album Before A Word Is Said, a cavallo tra la fine di aprile e inizio maggio del 1981, pochi giorni prima della scomparsa del compianto tastierista e compositore: Before A Note Is Played, con Phil Miller, Trevor Tomkins e Richard Sinclair, quest'ultimo unico dei quattro oggi rimasto a poter commentare e aggiungere a memoria qualche dettaglio. 

Quando l'album tornò in circolazione in cd, nel 1995, scrisse Miller: "The music on Before A Word Is Said was recorded when Alan was extremely ill with leukaemia and the effects of chemotherapy. It is a testament to his stoicism, and to his love of music, that he could even contemplate embarking on a recording project, let alone embue it with a combination of relaxed enjoyment and steely determination. Implicit in the title is the idea that here was a man composing his own musical epitaph, a sad thought, but Alan would have been quick to discourage such sadness. Let's instead celebrate the availability of this album, and enjoy the music of one of England's finest keyboard players and composers."

https://richardsinclairsongs.bandcamp.com/before-a-note-is-played

 

A Door Opens And Closes
(Mike Ratledge, 1943-2025)

 

Invitation to a Dream
(Susan Alcorn, 1953-2025)

 

Lo aveva fatto qualche tempo fa con American Dreamer, box antologico in otto LP, oggi Madfish raccoglie nuovamente i lavori realizzati tra il 1966 al 1995 da Laura Nyro (1947-1997) in un'edizione ancora più completa, in 19 CD: Hear My Song. Ci sono tutti gli album di studio, incluso il postumo Angel in the Dark, brani in versione provvisoria o alternativa, diversi concerti dal vivo - ma non il Live at the Bottom Line di fine anni Ottanta di cui scrive (gran bene) Richard Williams al suo blog The Blue Moment - e altre varie rarità.

Nyro was 18 years old when she signed her first recording contract and wrote the songs for which she is likely to be best remembered. By the time she was 22, she had become one of the most successful composers in American popular music. But at the age of just 24, she drew back from her creativity and fame, battered and drained by the sheer energy and nerve required to sustain her career. Fortunately for those of us who loved her music, that was not the end of the story. She returned briefly to the fray for three turbulent years in the mid-to-late 1970s, and then enjoyed a final decade of artistic achievement and public acclaim, before illness took her from us at the tragically early age of 49 in 1997. Nyro found her early fame challenging yet despite living under an unrelenting spotlight, she was able to create a series of utterly beautiful and stunningly unique albums. 

https://burningshed.com/laura-nyro_hear-my-song

 

Una seconda vita la vivono anche due album d'archivio risalenti a due distinte epoche (e formazioni) dei Soft Machine già in passato confezionati da MoonJune Records - uno grazie anche all'intervento del compianto Mike King - e ora rivisti tecnicamente da Mark Wingfield: si tratta di Drop, con Mike Ratledge, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper e Phil Howard dal vivo in Germania nel novembre 1971, e Floating World Live, con Mike Ratledge, Allan Holdsworth, Karl Jenkins, Roy Babbington e John Marshall dal vivo a Brema, sempre in Germania, nel gennaio 1975.

https://softmachine-moonjune.bandcamp.com

 

Sia Chewing Hides The Sound sia Greener Postures, album di Philip Charles Lithman (ovvero Snakefinger) usciti rispettivamente nel 1979 e 1980, vivono una seconda vita presso l'austriaca Klanggalerie in una speciale edizione deluxe che agli originali aggiunge le versioni del 1987, finora inedite. appositamente preparate per accompagnare la veglia funebre ('Snakey Wake') celebrata dai Residents in onore del chitarrista, amico e compagno di tante avventure.

The Residents met Philip Lithman in 1969. They became immediate friends and began playing music together. Snakefinger participated in many Residents projects with 1986 being a particularly good year for their working together. Plans were made to tour again in 1989, but fate decreed otherwise. While on a European tour, Snakefinger died on July 1st, 1987 in Linz, Austria. He was buried in London, and many of his friends in San Francisco found it difficult to accept a death so far from home. So The Residents organized a party, a wake. They arrived in black with black net wrapped around their bodies and each carried an open black umbrella. They went to their instruments without introduction and played a series of old English laments and Hank Williams' Six More Miles. 

http://www.klanggalerie.com/gg220-2
http://www.klanggalerie.com/gg225-2

 

Debutta invece all'International Film Festival di Rotterdam il documentario sui Residents girato dalla regista francese Marie Losier, con due proiezioni pubbliche in programma oggi e lunedì prossimo nelle sedi del Festival e successiva disponibilità in streaming più o meno ovunque: Barking in the Dark.

How do you make a portrait of a music group when nobody knows who the members are? Marie Losier takes up the task and travels to San Francisco to create a documentary on cult band The Residents. There, we meet Homer Flynn, president of The Cryptic Corporation, who guides us through The Residents’ archive, sharing a variety of anecdotes related to the objects it contains. Complementing his stories with archival footage and a historical context, Losier delivers a compassionate portrait and a celebration of creativity.

https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/barking-in-the-dark

 

Altro nobil personaggio che festeggia il compleanno in questi giorni - precisamente domani, davanti a una torta con ben 87 candeline - è Leo Feigin, nome caro a musicisti e appassionati di jazz e improvvisazione di ogni età e provenienza grazie all'attività della sua Leo Records, etichetta indipendente con grandi meriti nella diffusione di musiche di pregio oltre confine fin dalla sua fondazione nel 1979 ('Music for the Inquiring Mind and the Passionate Heart') e oggi forte di più di 900 titoli in catalogo. Alla storia dell'etichetta e a quella del suo tenace protagonista è dedicato il film Leo Records-Strictly For Our Friends diretto dalla giovane regista rumena Ioana Grigore, presentato in anteprima poche settimane fa all'Astra Cinema Festival di Sibiu, in Transilvania. Auguri Leo!

https://leorecordsmusic.com

 

E ai frequentatori del suo sito Une discographie de Robert Wyatt Jean-Paul Marillier offre da qualche anno - questa è la quinta volta! - la versione in formato pdf dell'intero archivio, articolata in sezioni che comprendono discografia, elenco alfabetico dei materiali, interviste e rassegna stampa in varie lingue e un compendio di tutte le aggiunte e le modifiche intervenute nel frattempo. Merci infiniment!

http://www.disco-robertwyatt.com/archives_site/V5

 

A proposito di reinterpretazioni di brani wyattiani, tali e tante ne ha rintracciate Jean-Paul Marillier da poter dedicar loro un'intera sezione - perennemente in progress - del suo magnifico archivio Une discografie de Robert Wyatt. Con qualche precisazione sulle scelte operate: "The covers include tracks by Robert Wyatt - as author and/or composer - as well as all the Soft Machine and Matching Mole tracks that he performed during their creation, in the studio or on stage. This is also true of the many collaborations of which he was a significant co-creator. Hatfield And The North's Calyx, Brian Eno's Music For Airports - Part One and John Greaves' The Song are all examples of possible covers. I also consider a cover to be a song from the early Soft Machine repertoire (with RW) played by the "post-Fourth Soft Machine" or a fortiori by bands such as Soft Legacy, Soft Bounds etc. Finally, there are covers of covers whose reference will be Robert Wyatt's interpretation rather than the original version (Charlie Haden's Chairman Mao or Chic's At Last I Am Free, for example). So you'll understand that I'm taking a few liberties in deciding the songs covered here: Robert Wyatt's position in the artistic creation process is more important to me than the strictly legal status of the works."

http://www.disco-robertwyatt.com

 

Non poteva mancare oggi, nel giorno dell'ottantesimo compleanno del Nostro, il primo aggiornamento del 2025 del prezioso archivio Une discografie de Robert Wyatt, frutto della paziente e appassionata attività di indagine e catalogazione di Jean-Paul Marillier nel corso degli anni. Con una dedica affettuosa a nome di lettori e collaboratori, e una prima selezione di loro cover preferite. Grazie Jean-Paul, e naturalmente auguri Robert!

http://www.disco-robertwyatt.com

 

Nella contea di Innlandet in Norvegia tornano a risuonare le note sublimi del Westbrook-Blake per iniziativa del cantante e sassofonista Knut Laasbye, che dopo gli allestimenti per ampio ensemble degli anni scorsi le propone mercoledì prossimo a Lillehammer in uno speciale adattamento per quartetto, con il rinforzo corale di cinque altre cantanti. Presso la chiesa di Nordre Ål, alle 19.00.

'The interest for and knowledge about William Blake is growing in Norway, and we are doing our best helping by presenting Blake's lyrics and works of art accompanied by Mike Westbrook's fantastic music from his Glad Day compositions. We have had five concerts (two of them with a 15 piece ensemble and a 20 minute lecture about Blake) around and in the olympic city of Lillehammer, and on the 29th of January we are having our first concert of 2025, this time as a quartet plus five backing singers.'

https://tinyurl.com/Lillehammer2025

 

Uno sguardo a quel che verrà, ed è assai più che una promessa: l'Anatole di Misha Mengelberg reinventata dall'Artchipel Orchestra. Al Top!

https://www.facebook.com/ArtchipelOrchestra
https://www.musicajazz.it/gennaio-2025

 

Le sue memorabili performance dal vivo si sono fatte via via più rare nel corso degli ultimi anni, così come le sue produzioni musicali - reperibili in gran parte tramite Bandcamp - ma Bob Ostertag è tutt'altro che inattivo, impegnatissimo anzi tra giornalismo libero e controcorrente, la diffusione di pamphlet di protesta e manuali di auto-aiuto, la redazione di blog e podcast su temi scomodi e attuali, e il costante coinvolgimento nelle comunità queer e Lgbtq+ di San Francisco anche per divulgarne la storia e sostenerne le iniziative. Mentre da noi sta per uscire per Colibrì la versione in italiano di Creative Life (University of Illinois, 2009) è pronto da pochi giorni il suo nuovo libro per Black Lawrence Press, atteso, urgente e personale: Encounters with Men.

"Many, though not most, encounters described in this book took place far away from my home. For most of my adult life I have been a professional touring musician. During those years, I was as likely to have a night of to go to a gay bar in Taipei, Lisbon, Yogyakarta, Beirut, or Mexico City as in my home town of San Francisco. Nights off on the road feel diferent. You have been working hard, playing a concert in a different city every night, and now you have one free night before the tour starts up again, so you make it count. And you are in a foreign place. You are not going to run into any friends. And most likely, you will not see the people you meet that night ever again. You are free: to find gold, to make mistakes." 

http://bobostertag.com
https://bobostertag.bandcamp.com
https://blacklawrencepress.com/authors/bob-ostertag
https://blacklawrencepress.com/books/encounters-with-men

 

E in omaggio a un altro irriducibile dell'improvvisazione radicale della scena britannica storica, Paul Burwell (1949-2007), si è tenuta a inizio mese a Londra al Cafe Oto una speciale serata con la proiezione del film documentario Burning Bridges, prodotto da Nova Studios, e gli interventi di tre tra i suoi più cari amici e collaboratori ai tempi del London Musicians' Collective, David Toop, Evan Parker e Sylvia Hallett. Ve n'è traccia su YT.

Burning Bridges tells the story of Paul’s remarkable and exciting life and work, but also throws light on a period in British art and music that is often overlooked. "Well before punk there was an exciting underground movement in UK art and music that was rooted in the DIY culture that punk claimed as its own” explains Burning Bridges director Matt Stephenson. "These artists and performers were exciting and iconoclastic in the way they challenged the boundaries of safety and acceptability, but the work also explored a dark side too. People often regard punk as a kind-of ground zero, but the rebellion, the cut-and-paste, kick-down-the-walls, junk-as-art approach was being employed by Paul and his friends long before Malcolm Mclaren and the Pistols."

Described by saxophonist Evan Parker as 'The world’s first fine art drummer' Paul started his career in a duo named Rain In The Face with musician and writer David Toop, who he first met at a midnight jam at Camden’s famous Roundhouse. The pair worked closely with the influential poet Bob Cobbing, who also happened to be the father of Paul’s girlfriend Sheila. In the later 1970s Burwell and Toop were founder members of the London Musicians Collective. In the 80’s Burwell teamed up with the now-internationally acclaimed artists Anne Bean and Richard Wilson to form the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, making huge musical sculptures from junk and playing large scale events all over the world, gaining wide coverage in newspapers and on TV. Paul’s work, which involved magick, explosions, amazing drumming, and death-defying acts of danger, blurred the lines between life, entertainment, performance art and improvised music, “He was regarded as having a kind-of Samurai nature” says Paul’s closest friend, collaborator and sometime partner, Anne Bean, “People were scared of him, but he could be very gentle and thoughtful too.”

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/burning-bridges

https://www.novastudios.co.uk/paul-burwell

 

Tre serate consecutive a partire da oggi in omaggio a Derek Bailey (1930-2005), nel ventennale della scomparsa e nello spirito delle sue storiche Company Weeks. Le promuove come è ormai tradizione il newyorkese Roulette, quest'anno coordinate da Jim Staley: Improv Nights 2025: A Tribute to Derek Bailey.

Join us for the third annual Improv Nights, a three-night run bringing together master improvisers to perform in multiple configurations and combinations. This series was originally initiated by John Zorn, to whom Derek Bailey was a dear friend and mentor. Bailey’s passion for pure improvisation inspired generations of musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds. For these three nights we return to the Improv Night tradition that began as benefits for The Stone, and that have been, in many ways, inspired by Derek Bailey’s legendary Company Weeks. Each evening will present a rotating kaleidoscope of musicians, who will then divide into smaller improvisational units - each concert promising a unique and exciting experience. A heartfelt tribute to the art of improvisation, to the ever-thriving, ever-expanding Downtown Scene, and to the spirit of Derek Bailey and Company.

https://roulette.org/event/improv-nights-2025-1
https://roulette.org/event/improv-nights-2025-2
https://roulette.org/event/improv-nights-2025-3

 

Torna su Resonance FM la saga di Selfish in Space, con Bing Selfish al centro di un nuovo avventuroso episodio, il terzo della serie: in diretta questa sera (più o meno a ora di cena) o in replica venerdì (più o meno all'alba). Poi in Mixcloud come i precedenti.

Selfish Tales is the latest emanation from The Bing Selfish Radio Show and will bring you stories you never knew you wanted to hear. Expect music, a reckless attitude to health and safety standards, unfair management practices, dance numbers, extreme empathy and tunes. In this episode the intrepid crew of the USSDAUPA Spoontaneous have to contend with threats animal, mineral, technological and political in their most psychedelic adventure yet, not to mention matters of group choreography, timing and pitch correction. I guess you could use it as both a dancefloor filler and a labour relations manual, but either way, you’d probably end up in some kind of trouble. Tune in, it’s a gas.

https://www.resonancefm.com/programmes/SelfishTales

 

E non è un caso che l'episodio di questa settimana nella serie Symposium di Eugene Chadbourne sia The Bully Song. Animato propriamente da violenti e tracotanti, prepotenti e bellimbusti, ma accompagnato da un cosciente presagio: "The Cyclops and the Minotaur, aggressive bullies that were considered undefeatable until..."

https://eugenechadbourne-documentation.squarespace.com

 

Alcuni artisti motivati del giro InPolySons riuniscono nuovamente sforzi ed intenti per comporre una seconda No Trumps Compilation - ché rispetto alla prima le cose sono anche peggiorate - libera, gratuita, attuale più che mai oggi nel giorno dell'insidiamento.

https://inpolysons.bandcamp.com/album/no-trumps-2024

 

Riprende a oltre vent'anni di distanza il dialogo tra Lukas Simonis e Pierre Bastien, anche stavolta grazie ai buoni uffici dell'autodichiarata 'sempiternally pataphysic' etichetta francese In-Poly-Sons: Zeldzame Mensen.

"Insane", or in French "un truc de malade": expressions often used to describe a strange work of art, a daring piece of architecture, or an experimental piece of music. It’s a comment that should be taken figuratively: not necessarily pejorative, and most often even positive. In contrast, the music of this album reflects a sick theme in the true sense of the word, as the two protagonists chose to resume their twenty-year collaboration in the antechamber of a hematologist's office. The album’s title should be understood in this sense: rare people, not necessarily in their behavior, but rather in an exceptionally grim period of their lives. The music on this album is sometimes harsh, sometimes tender, but always filled with energy, despite the treatment it has undergone. Temporarily dubbed 'instant songs', the compositions were created and recorded in the moment, subject to free improvisation, leaving no chance for smoothing or refinement - resulting in rare music.

http://inpolysons.free.fr
https://inpolysons.bandcamp.com/zeldzame-mensen

 

Celebra oggi a Les Lilas (Francia) un quarto di secolo di attività il locale Le Triton, con una doppia maratona musicale che vedrà protagonisti nelle sue due sale da concerto complessivamente un'ottantina tra i musicisti più affezionati e più presenti nel corso degli anni, tra cui Chassol, Henri Texier, John Greaves, Emmanuel Borghi, Himiko Paganotti, Sophia Domancich, Simon Goubert, Louis Sclavis, Daniel Humair, Jean-Philippe Morel, Franck Vaillant, Philippe Bussonnet, Christophe Godin, Bruno Ruder, Thierry Eliez, Vincent Courtois, Régis Huby, Élise Caron, Pierre Bensusan, Catherine Delaunay e naturalmente i Magma. Cibo, musica, gioia & rivoluzione non-stop dalle due del pomeriggio fino a mezzanotte. Passionément!

Le 12 décembre 1999, au terme d'une longue bataille citoyenne menée dans le seul but d'avoir le droit d'exister, le Triton naissait officiellement à l'occasion d'une inoubliable journée de 12h de musique non-stop. Après plus de 2500 concerts, des dizaines de milliers d'artistes programmés, 70 albums parus sur notre label, 500 concerts filmés et des centaines de milliers de repas servis dans notre restaurant, le Triton n'est plus tout à fait le petit nouveau qu'il était encore il y a un quart de siècle dans le paysage des lieux de création et de diffusion du pays. Tant de choses s'y sont faites, tant de projets y sont nés, tant de rencontres s'y sont produites, tant de souvenirs indélébiles pour les artistes et le public... Bien sûr, il a fallu (et il faut encore!) se battre et travailler sans compter, souvent contre vents et marrées, mais aujourd'hui l'heure est à la fête et nous souhaitons surtout dire à quel point ces 25 années ont été celles de la joie, du partage, de l'amitié, de l'émulation et de l'audace. 25 ans à fond les ballons, tous les jours. 25 ans de création, 25 ans de liberté, 25 ans de musique. 25 ans passionnément! C'est pour célébrer ces 25 ans de bonheur, et toutes celles qui suivront, que nous vous donnons rendez-vous le 18 janvier 2025! Au programme: un marathon musical de 14h à minuit avec 80 artistes compagnons qui ont fait l'histoire du Triton. Le tout, en entrée libre bien sûr!

https://www.letriton.com

 

Anche un'altra illustre istituzione cittadina a Birmingham, la Facoltà di Arti Design e Media, ufficializza un'importante acquisizione: l'intera collezione della fanzine Facelift, diciannove numeri in formato cartaceo realizzati nel decennio tra la fine degli anni Ottanta e Novanta - più un ventesimo pubblicato più tardi online - donati direttamente dall'autore, Phil Howitt.

"This collection contains the complete run of Facelift a music fanzine that ran for 19 issues from 1989 to 1998. Facelift, or as was latterly known, Facelift-The Canterbury Scene And Beyond was first published in 1989 by Phil Howitt on a xerox machine. Phil was inspired by Pete Frame's rock family tree which made the author aware of how prolific the music scene from the Canterbury area was in the late 1960’s, and how deserving the topic was of more attention than it garnered from mainstream music media such as NME and Melody Maker. By the second issue production became more professional and it had moved from being printed on xerox to being published by Opel Press, later it would move to the Juma Press. The fanzine concerned itself primarily with the progressive rock music/jazz fusion scene of the 1960’s and 70’s that centred on Canterbury, Kent. It contained articles about and interviews from bands and artists such as Caravan, Bill Bruford and Soft Machine, as well as family trees charting the fluid movement of musicians between groups. The final issue was published in 1998, as other projects took precedence for Phil Howitt, however in 2006 a final 20th issue was released online as a digital issue. This collection of Facelift fanzines was donated to the Arts, Design and Media Archive in 2023 by Phil Howitt."

https://www.bcu.ac.uk/arts-design-and-media/phil-howitt

 

Un messaggio di buon augurio da parte di Herm Mew, vedova del compianto Phil Miller (1949-2017), rammenta che presso il Royal Birmingham Conservatoire non soltanto si è fatto tesoro del ricco lascito di materiali documentali del Nostro - audio, video, scritti, manoscritti e partiture - ma è stata riconfermata la volontà di promuoverne la divulgazione anche attraverso i concerti della Legacy Band, formazione costituita da allievi musicisti dell'istituto pronta a incontrare il pubblico di club e festival vari nel corso del 2025. A far da biglietto da visita sono le piacevoli versioni di alcuni classici milleriani - No More Mr Nice Guy, Calyx e Delta Borderline - riprese in occasione del debutto a febbraio dell'anno scorso, proposte al sito del Phil Miller-The Legacy e disponibili anche su YT.

https://philmillerthelegacy.com/the-phil-miller-legacy-band
https://tinyurl.com/PM-LegacyBand

 

Oggi a Southend on Sea e domenica prossima a Walton-on-Thames (Regno Unito) si presentano due splendide occasioni per sentire dal vivo le musiche di Mike Westbrook rilette da Chris Biscoe per piccolo ensemble strumentale come già nell'album Music Is (Trio Records, 2022). Con il sassofonista ci saranno Kate Williams, Mike Outram, Dave Whitford e Jon Scott, alle prese tra gli altri con Mama Chicago, Aggro-Vancouver-Desperado, View From The Drawbridge, July '79, Graffitti, Wasteground and Weeds e due classici da sempre tra i preferiti di Mike, You Leave Me Breathless e Johnny Come Lately. Al secondo dei due concerti sarà possibile assistere anche in live streaming su YT: Chris Biscoe Plays Mike Westbrook.

"Mike Westbrook is one of the most important composers in jazz with a huge body of work from small band jazz through big bands, cabaret, fusion, chamber works, opera, settings of poetry, creative re-workings of Rossini and The Beatles’ Abbey Road, always retaining his unique character. The idea behind Music Is is a simple one: take some of these great pieces out of their context and play them with a small jazz group, as you might an Ellington, Monk or Gershwin song."

https://www.chrisbiscoe.co.uk/diary.shtml
https://www.facebook.com/ChrisBiscoe.Jazz

 

Invece ai propri affezionati Mike Westbrook offre l'intera serie dei suoi concerti in solo degli anni più recenti, registrati amorevolmente da Matthew North in diverse occasioni - a Dartington, Londra, Topsham e Ashburton tra il 2022 e il 2024 - accomunate dall'accattivante titolo The Piano and Me: quattro volumi, grosso modo l'equivalente di cinque cd, ora integralmente disponibili in formato digitale a cura di Chris Topley tramite Bandcamp, accompagnati da un paio di estratti video e da un'approfondita presentazione scritta da Gary Bayley. Grazie, Maestro!

"Perhaps this is the music that late period Keith Jarrett and/or Brad Mehldau could have come up with had they had been equipped with the composing, arranging, and orchestrating, experience of some seventy years. Perhaps this is the music that Berg, Webern, or Schoenberg, could have produced had they been interested in performing for an audience and with a concern for entertainment by effective communication. Whatever! Such comparisons are fun thought-experiments but the best thing to do practically is to listen to this music as it is, on its own terms, as being Mike Westbrook art-music in the Mike Westbrook jazz tradition'."

https://mikewestbrook.bandcamp.com/the-piano-and-me-I-IV

 

E ai propri affezionati John Thurlow di Jazz in Britain augura buon anno donando un inedito del Warleigh Manor - quartetto composto da Allan Holdsworth, Ray Warleigh, Ron Mathewson e Bryan Spring attivo a Londra sul finire degli anni Settanta - sfuggito alle precedenti antologie di rarità tratte dai nastri donati all'etichetta dal bassista: The Return.

Scrive Thurlow: "Back in 2020 Jazz In Britain released a cd and download titled Warleigh Manor, from a quartet of Allan Holdsworth, Ray Warleigh, Ron Mathewson and Bryan Spring, using a recording which we discovered in Ron Mathewson’s tape archives, and which we believe was recorded at Ray Warleigh’s home studio in Hammersmith, London (hence the title), most probably during 1979. Although that quartet performed in London on a number of occasions in '79-'80, including at least two shows staged by the Jazz Centre Society at the Half Moon, until the discovery of the tape it had been thought that they never recorded anything together. The limited edition Warleigh Manor cd quickly sold out, though it’s still available as a download. Now we have discovered another recording, not from Ron Mathewson’s tapes this time, but in Bob Cornford’s tape archive which we have been given access to by Tony Rees. So, in the spirit of the season, and as a big thank you to all the Jazz In Britain supporters who have helped make 2024 such a successful and fulfilling year… here’s this newly discovered track for free!"

https://jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/return-to-warleigh-manor

 

Inizia bene il 2025 anche Cuneiform Records, con la pubblicazione in doppio cd di una sessione di studio inedita di John Surman risalente all'aprile 1969, registrata in Germania ad Amburgo alla guida di un ensemble di dieci elementi: Flashpoints and Undercurrents, con Alan Skidmore, Ronnie Scott, Mike Osborne, Malcolm Griffiths, Erich Kleinschuster, Kenny Wheeler, Fritz Pauer, Harry Miller e Alan Jackson.

At the time of the recording released here, Surman had just finished recording his second album as a leader, How Many Clouds Can You See (Deram, 1970). Flashpoints and Undercurrents is thus a unique chance to get an expanded view of both Surman's formative work as a leader, and also at the early work of his musical compatriots appearing with him here. For this occasion, Surman led a ten-piece ensemble featuring the cream of modern British jazz players as well as two Austrian musicians. What's doubly valuable about this release is that it contains a large amount of pieces never recorded elsewhere, captured in excellent stereo sound.

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/flashpoints-and-undercurrents

 

Comincia bene il 2025 al Cafe Oto a Londra con un emozionante weekend - in parte trasmesso in diretta streaming - dedicato allo storico trio di Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker e Paul Lytton, cui si uniscono tra oggi e domani anche Axel Dörner e John Edwards. Fantastico!

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/schlippenbach-parker-lytton

 

E' confermato per domani il ritorno di Bob Drake a una nuova stagione di trasmissioni in diretta streaming dalla sua sede di Caudeval (Francia): e per dare il benvenuto all'anno appena iniziato sfoggerà una sua nuova chitarra, a dodici corde. Su Twitch, a partire dalle ore 19.00.

https://www.bdrak.com

https://www.twitch.tv/bob_drake

 

C'è un nuovo gioioso episodio anche per la ONe_Orchestra New, l'ensemble orchestrale di una ventina di sole donne, trans e persone non binarie coordinato da Caroline Kraabel, diffuso qualche giorno fa tramite Bandcamp a conclusione di un anno particolarmente intenso e fruttuoso per le complesse dinamiche del gruppo: Live at The Vortex July 2024, galvanizzante doppio set di musiche e danza tenuto nel celebre club londinese con esiti sorprendenti per le protagoniste stesse: "The courage, sensitivity, togetherness, readiness to go all out or to hold back… exceptional!"

https://oneorchestranew.com

 

Tre i punti esclamativi nel titolo del nuovo gioioso episodio - il terzo, appunto - della serie di auto-archeologia del geniale Martin Tétreault inaugurata nel 1992 (in audiocassetta) presso Ambiances Magnétiques: Vraiment plus de Snipettes!!!

Vraiment plus de Snipettes!!! est la suite de l’incroyable Plus de Snipettes!! précédé de l’inattendu Snipettes!. Il s’agit d’une autre sélection de morceaux choisis, résultat de nombreuses heures de transfert de bandes magnétiques et de cassettes audio vers l’ordinateur pour être ensuite détruites. Dans certains cas, les enregistrements originaux ont été faits sans console de mixage, directement sur magnétophone à ruban. J’ai voulu conserver le plus possible les qualités originales de ces matériaux et de leurs supports. Cela implique les bons coups et les erreurs propices à l’apprentissage et à la naïveté de l’époque. Ce disque regroupe des archives de gestes révolus, d’outils analogiques et de sons magnétiques. La plupart des outils ayant servi pour ces enregistrements ont disparu de mon entourage. Quant à la musique, elle fixe dans le temps des jeux et des explorations qui sont ailleurs…

https://actuellecd.com/tetreault

 

A chi è affetto da sindrome da rientro post-feste due specialisti d'Oriente, giustamente coperti da anonimato, suggeriscono un beverone a base di Constantinople, Goosebump, Santa Dog, Birthday Boy, Diskomo e Smelly Tongues. A piccoli sorsi, con una massaggiante risata.

https://youtu.be/AAi0i0wloRs

 

Tutto l'immaginabile (o quasi) sugli impareggiabili Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band è in Still Barking, strabiliante box antologico Madfish con 17 cd audio, 3 dvd, biografia, cronologia completa, raccolta di memorie dei diretti protagonisti e degli affezionati ammiratori, album fotografico di 150 pagine e mille materiali extra. Ai più buoni forse lo porta la Befana...

As one of the UK's most beloved and unconventional bands, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band have delighted audiences for over 60 years with their distinctive blend of music, comedy, and surrealism. This comprehensive 20-disc collection, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band: Still Barking, celebrates the complete works of the legendary Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and their impact on a generation of revered artists and comedians, from The Beatles to Monty Python. Formed in the early 1960s by art students Vivian Stanshall and Rodney Slater, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band began as a jazz ensemble parodying the music of the 1920s and 30s before evolving into a pioneering force in rock and comedy. Their satirical songs and eclectic performances quickly made them a favourite on the London underground scene. They gained national fame through appearances on the TV show "Do Not Adjust Your Set," which also featured future members of Monty Python. Known for their hit I'm the Urban Spaceman, produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth, the Bonzos left an indelible mark on the British music and comedy landscape.

https://burningshed.com/bonzo-dog-doo-dah-band_still-barking